falloutfanonfandomcom-20200222-history
Federal Republic of Libeteria
The Federal Republic of Libeteria is a republic formed out of the three islands in New York Harbor. It evolved rapidly into a powerful military and economic power within the New York Wasteland. History 2077-2199 Prior to the Great War, the U.S. government made a concentrated effort to see to it that all of America's major cities would have ample protection from the dangers of Fallout, America's national parks and monuments not being exempt from this effort. With the help of a grant from the Federal government, the city government constructed several nuclear shelters on Ellis, Liberty, and Governor islands. These were for the most part just large spaces designed to hold a large number of occupants for several years until the all clear was given. Yet many felt that such shelters would never be used and thus the shelters on Ellis and Liberty Islands fell into disrepair. So when the nukes began to fall on New York in October of 2077 the people who sought shelter in these bunkers found them utterly barren of food or clean drinking water forcing them to travel to the surface much earlier than anticipated in search of food. These frequent travels to the surface led to the death of scores of brave souls (and when they were all gone luckless suckers), but their efforts and the information they brought back with them allowed the people within to keep tabs on the present state of the outside world. Eventually, the raging hellfire onshore was doused, and the radiation storms blew themselves out, allowing for the survivors to reemerge to the surface to attempt the rebuilding of civilized society. Ascending to the surface, they discovered that the rumored power of the Chinese nuclear arsenal had been slightly exaggerated. Rather than discovering flat ruins, and glassed soil, the survivors discovered much of the city still intact, albeit heavily damaged from the bombs and the resulting fires. upon the surface they began the long process of rebuilding civilization. The isolation of the islands afforded the survivors a degree of security that allowed them to focus more of their energy upon constructing shelters, collecting supplies, and organizing an ad hoc government. Within ten years of the Great War they turned the islands they inhabited into thriving towns. Surviving for the first several years of their existence off of those supplies they could salvage from around their islands, or the mainland, it was not until the early 2100s that they began the process of cultivating the soil,and harvesting fish from the surrounding waters. With the return of farming and fishing industries, so too returned the forces of commerce and wealth. It was from these early farmers and fishermen that arose the new class of (relatively) wealthy families. These wealthy families would eventually come to be known as the Feeders (after their important role in the production, and accumulation of producetsthat helped to keep the townsfolk fed). Utilizing their wealth the Feeders acted as a source of security for the rest of the islanders, hiring mercenaries to protect them from seaborne raiders and slavers. For dozens of years the three islands formed a rough community who traded with one another and with the survivors around them, and yet it would not be until 2196 that a man by the name of Jay Talbert would unify them. The details of just how this unification occurred offer up two very different accounts. The more widely accepted account of the Republic's foundation detail Talbert, the son of a wealthy Feeder, called the representatives of the three islands together and convinced them of the virtues of unification in the following way: "My friends, since the bombs fell, our three islands have withstood not only the tests of time, but the various trials presented to us by the wasteland...and while the rest of the world has relapsed into vile savagery, with all men, regardless of their previous distinction, giving in to their most base instincts and desires...and while the rest of the world scrambles for scraps of food and clean water, WE! the proud and industrious islanders have brought back the science and benefits of commerce and industry...we have returned civilized government to the world, and through it, helped to restore the rights of man to those under its judicious dominion...therefore my friends it seems only natural that we unite ourselves under a single flag and through this new Commonwealth return civilization and prosperity to the wastes!" The second account lacks the eloquence of the first but seems to paint a truer picture of the Republic's foundation. Jay, in conjunction with the help of other members of the Feeder class and their armed guards, went before the island's representatives and issued the following statement: "Listen carefully, I'm running this show now, anyone who steps outta line I'm going to kill or have killed. Then I'm going to kill his wife, sell his kids, kick his dog, and burn his goddamned house down! So don't fuck with me, or my men and everything will be right as rain." The prevalence of the first account just goes to show that when the legend becomes fact, you print the legend. Thus in 2198, the Federal Republic of Libeteria was organized out of Ellis, Liberty, and Governor Islands. Jay Talbert became the Republic's first President and under him, with the help of some of the local magnates and notables, a governing council was organized, and the beginnings of a functioning central government were created. The Council was elected from among the citizens, with the suffrage being extended to all adults of at least the age of twenty-one, and owning at least 75 dollars worth of fixed property. The value being computed in the Republic's new money, the Republican dollar. To give the dollar some form of intrinsic value, Talbert elected to have the dollar-backed with gold. The gold is collected or purchased from around the wasteland and mostly consists of old Jewelry. To aggregate this disparate stock of gold under the roof of the newly formed Exchequer, the government offered to do a weighted exchange with anyone possessing such valuables in purified water. Fresh, clean water being an even scarcer commodity in the wasteland (the islands enjoyed a relative surplus of it since the construction of a purifier in 2098), many wasters were happy to trade their bits of gold for a few bottles of water. The collected gold was promptly stockpiled in Fort William for safe keeping. Thus began the Republic's economy. 2200-2220 With the adoption of a hard currency, the Republic's economy experienced a boom. By mandating that the Republican dollar was the only legal currency within the Republic's borders, the government helped to expedite its adoption. Through the adoption of its currency transactions and commerce within the republic took off due to the relative decrease in transaction costs. Many farmers, and fisherman who had only partaken in their trade for their own subsistence began to turn more land towards production for profit. However, due to the lack of farmland on the three islands, the price of grain almost immediately began to rise. Due to the integral part that grains and basic staples played in Libeterian society, the rapid rise in grain prices transformed into more general inflation. However the effect of this gradual inflation in prices led to the enrichment of the Feeder class. In an attempt to control inflation, President Talbert ordered the implementation of price controls. These only served to exacerbate the crises. The end result of these two compounding issues was the gradual impoverishment of Libeterian society as a whole. To add, many of the Feeder class saw the attempt to control prices by the government as "an unjust infringement upon their right to market their produce at whatever price they saw fit." The Feeders advanced many sound, logical, and intelligent arguments, but these proved to be impervious to the wisdom of the crowd. The controls were maintained, and Libeterian society continued its gradual slide downwards. However ,this conflict did bring into the public discourse the all -mportant question of the duties of the citizenry,and the rights they possessed. At the Republic's inception there had been only one mention of the private sphere of the individual citizen when President Talbert declared that each citizen would be safe and secure within the confines of their homes, and on their property. However the growing economic crisis called that declaration back into question. The need to balance the public good, with private rights took precedentcein this debate as members from all the various classes and corporations (not referring to businesses) attempted to make their voices heard. Inevitably, the question of what would, and would not be the legal rights of the citizenry fell to President Talbert. Influenced by class interest, Talbert was at first hesitant to yield too much to the whims of the multitude, yet cooler heads prevailed and he was convinced of the necessity to yield to some of their demands, lest he incite sa more general uprising against him. In his first Presidential decree ,he listed off a series of rights which the citizens would possess, namely the right to private property, freedom of speech and press, and the right to a trial by jury. These rights were enacted as a sort of legal code which all of Libeterian society was subject to. While this placated some of the more moderate voices among the multitude, the radicals, joined by members of the fledgling middle class declared that such concessions were not good enough. They called for an assembly of peers to be created which would have the power of veto, the right to introduce legislation, and control over finances. As well they demanded that the laws,and rights of the Republic be written down, not in a rigid legal code, but in the form of a constitution. In this sense ,they indirectly opted for a common law legal system. Talbert, understanding the power these radicals possessed, agreed to the concessions, however with certain stipulations. Talbert and the other members of his inner circle were no fools, they understood the dangers of unbridled democracy, indeed the very evidence of the follies of democracy surrounded them. Thus he mandated that those eligible to run for such a council would need to possess a minimum amount of property, next the suffrage itself was limited to citizens who possessed at least 75 dollars worth of property. Thus was formed the Republic's present governing council, known officially as the Council of Magnates. The constitution that was called for was also conceded, much to the chagrin to the more reactionary members of the Feeder class. In it was outlined the private rights of the citizens, as well as the duties each had to their commonwealth. It should be noted that the rights outlined in the constitution were not understood to be natural rights, nor were they considered to be wholly inalienable. Indeed the rights enjoyed by the citizens of the Republic were understood to exist only within the confines of the Republic itself, and that in order to preserve those rights, each citizen had a duty to serve to the commonwealth as a whole. Therefore it was written into its confines that each able bodied man and woman, upon turning the age of eighteen must serve at least two years in the Republic military. It was only after having served in the military that they attained the absolute legal rights they were guaranteed under the constitution. In a very real sense, service guaranteed citizenship. These terms were deemed satisfactory to those who still spoke out against Talbert, and the Republic settled for a time. The Republican army was formed in 2198 with the Republic. Little more than a ragtag militia, it was under the nominal command of President Talbert throughout the early years of the Republic. However, with the writing of the Constitution, the overall command of the Army was legal seated with the President. With a mob of new recruits, Talbert set the army into the process of training and arming these newcomers. His first order was the reclamation of six old ferry boats from the pre-war days, used to transport people between the different islands these began to serve that purpose once again as they were brought back to working order. Yet one thing bothered President Talbert, his country was completely reliant on merchants for food, this could easily be changed by the rafters should they grow angry with the nation or an enemy decided to blockade the harbor so Talbert sent a group of men under protection from the Army to Staten island the only place with enough open land to farm and thus the farmers settled in and began to till the land and plant their first crop of corn, beans, and wheat (the seeds were bought from Rafters). And the next Autumn they harvested their first crop moving it back to Governor's Island for sale to the populace. To this end on account of an abundance of corn present on the islands, a thriving whiskey industry soon formed on the islands. Yet it was the Army itself that next needed work, the Army had no standard uniform, no chain of command and no standard weaponry and Talbert sought to have that changed. Talbert began to have government agents look for uniforms throughout New York City but turned up little, it wasn't until an enterprising merchant showed up on Governor's Island to trade did the Army gain a standard uniform. This merchant named Eli was from the distant British Virgin Islands and had found a cache of police uniforms, 150 in all. These had sat at the bottom of his cargo bed as he had moved his way up the coast with no one taking much interest in them. Yet when he began to display them to the buyers on Governor's Island. A member of the Army was in that group and looked over the black uniforms and pith helmets. He reported the find to his superiors who quickly had several men down at the docks buying up all the uniforms the merchant had. These uniforms were in relatively good condition, with rank insignias still sewn onto them and after referencing a military guidebook, they discovered the insignia's meaning and their place on the military hierarchy. Soon the whole army was outfitted and seeing the heap of money Eli made off the uniforms, many merchants tracked down the same kinds of uniforms in Canada while traveling out as far as Bermuda to recover such uniforms. As a result, many merchants became rather rich out of selling British police uniforms to the FRL Army. As for the aforementioned money, this issue of creating a national currency came around in 2210 when Talbert signed the National Currency Act allowing the minting of a national currency. The FRL firmly believes in the Gold standard and thus, their coins were made of gold. The gold was from a wealthy merchant who had gotten his hands on a largeumme of the gold bars from his travels and kept it aboard his ship, yet when a storm hit New York it swamped his ship and him along with his crew drowned. His gold along with the ship washed up on Ellis Island and when it was discovered by soldiers on patrol that morning, the gold was quickly gathered and carted over to Governor's Island where it was counted up. A total of eighty-five bars were present add on the twenty-two recovered from New York City itself put the total at one hundred and seven bars. The bars were stored at Castle Williams. The FRL meanwhile set up a ming and selected twenty bars to be turned into coins. These were melted down and formed into coins, these became the national currency as coins were formed into $10, $20, $50, and all the way up to $200 coins. As for the bottle cap, these remained legal tender but did not hold the same monetary weight as FRL dollar coins. The coins are present throughout New York City and a further ten bars have since been smelted into coins, with twenty-five being added to the stores at Castle Williams. Guns are the essential part of any Army and the foundation of the Newberry Arms Company is the showcase of that fact. A wealthy rafter by the name of Jacob took up residence on Governor's Island is when the Newberry Arms Co. was formed. Jacob had made a living off making handcrafted guns, he was known for his revolvers and had gone about collecting blueprints to pre-war weapons he had come across in his travels, he bought out an empty building on Ellis Island and promptly went to work turning it into a workshop for his trade. He hired several workers and taught them the secrets of his trade and soon he was making guns for the people of the Libeteria, mostly bought for self-protection his guns were popular among traveling merchants and those who did a lot of fishing in the harbor. They were fast, reliable and powerful handguns that could stop most things that people found in the wasteland. Yet when the Army approached him with a contract to make assault rifles for them Jacob graciously accepted. he hired more workers and soon were pumping out assault rifles according to the R91 Assault rifles design, along with Marksmen Carbines, Sniper rifles and special revolvers for the Army these weapons sharing the same low maintenance, simple design of the other weapons from Newberry became general issue for the FRL Army. In 2220, President Talbert was assassinated by an anarchist while giving a speech at the base of the Statue of Liberty. His mausoleum sits next to Fort Jay where he made the majority of his contributions to the people of Libeteria. He was replaced by President Landon Thompson. 2220-2250 This is an era of great growth and development for the Republic as they adopted a more powerful stance in NYC politics and affairs. First, comes the Navigation and Commerce Act of 2223. Due to the influx of drugs, slaves and illegal weapons into New York City by smugglers President Thompson passed this act to regulate the trade going into New York harbor, this was a joint agreement signed by the FRL and the Merchants Union (A Far-Right Political group whom Thompson belonged to) it created the Maritime Patrol Force, these men made use of Pre-war police patrol boats and Coast Guard boats to patrol and search ships entering New York Harbor to confiscate and destroy any drugs found and to free any slaves discovered onboard. This put a huge damper on slave trading and drug-running operations in the New York City area and soon operations of the Maritime Patrol Force extended up the Hudson River, This, however, earned the FRL many enemies one of which the National Pleasure League was one of them, a disgusting alliance of slavers, drug runners, perverts, and pagans all unified under the idea that personal pleasure was the golden rule of life, no matter if it was with a needle of Pyscho or up the skirt of a twelve-year-old girl. Also during this time, the era known as the Age of Colonialism began bringing the FRL in contact with The Lions of New York a fascist, expansionist sect of the Brotherhood of Steel. These men in their terrifying Power Armor attacked FRL settlements and anyone else who wouldn't bend to their will. They are in a perpetual state of war with the FRL. Aside from their new enemy, the FRL set up colonies in Union City, Battery Park, and Staten Island. On Staten Island especially the FRL expanded, encompassing large swaths of land for farming, knocking over homes, moving aside rubble and planting new fields. It was on Staten Island that the expanding cattle industry began to form as ranchers formed huge herds of brahmin that ranged over the ruined landscape, selling them at the New York Stockyard in Manhattan. On Shooter's Island in Newark Bay, the Maritime Patrol Force and Army set up a base for patrolling that part of the New York area. 2250-2287 This age brought on a whole slew of enemies for the FRL, the Reclamation, the Army of Righteous Goo, and the Newark Pirate Association to just name a few. The FRL made a few friends but was essentially on its own as it fought its enemies as it attempted to expand into New York City and support the world it now inhabited, President Thompson would lead the FRL until 2268 when he retired from his office and was replaced by President Daniel Gibb. The FRL would continue to expand and fight its way inland as the world around it began to civilize and the world began to fall into lines of territory and control once again. The FRL was still standing tall and stoic, standing as the beacon of democracy and freedom to the wasteland. Federal Army As stated above the Federal Army is supplied by a mix of trade with the Rafters and the Newberry Arms Co. which the Federal government gives most of its defense contracts to. The Federal Army along with its subsidiary the Maritime Patrol Force have bases across New York area but a few stand out of the bunch. Castle Williams A brick fortress built long before the Great War the FRL took it over and gave it new life, the castle serves as the location for the growing supply of Gold the FRL uses for its gold reserve. It is arguably one of the most well-defended places in the entire Republic with machine gun positions, foot patrols and guard dogs are ever-present on the base as to keep robbers away from the gold stored inside. Fort Jay The seat of the Federal government in the Republic the Fort also acts as the training ground for the Army's newest recruits, and also contains an armory, firing range and a special barracks for members of the Special Reconnaissance Force. Shooter's Island This is a joint base for the Maritime Patrol Force and Federal Army, from here they can patrol the New York Harbor and Newark Harbor, eradicating drugs and slavery wherever its found. The base has come under attack on several occasions by members of the National Pleasure League with all being successfully beaten off by the soldiers and sailors posted there. FNS Glory A former Coast Guard cutter repaired by the Maritime Patrol Force, the ship is armed with a variety of weapons from its Deck Gun to .50 Caliber Machine Guns and Mini-Nuke Launcher created by the weapon masters at Newberry. The ship can usually be seen patrolling anywhere within New York Harbor flying the FRL flag and lighting up anyone who doesn't yield to their demands to stop. FNS Talbert A former oil tanker that was converted to a mobile command base for patrols going out into the Harbor, small enough for it to maneuver with comfort on the bay and yet big enough for Biplanes or Gyrocopters to land and refuel on. It has spots along its side where patrol boats can moor and refuel for further operations. Gyrocopters These, for the most part, have been put together by the Army using a single design drawn up by an engineer for the use of the Army flying Corp. These makeshift helicopters are usually seen flying above New York Harbor along with over the city itself scouting out the city ruins for Super Mutants, raiders and any other groups that would threaten their settlements and the best part is what most raiders will do is shake their fists at the copters as they move too fast to be shot down. Biplanes These are again rather basic in design and are designed by a man who studied the Wright Brothers plane and designed an airplane almost identical to it. He sold the design to the Army Flying Corp and several were built, again used for patrolling the sea and area around New York, many are armed with machine guns to allow the pilot to fire on raiders, pirates and drug running boats coming into the Harbor. Operations and Special units Army Flying Corp This branch is considered a special operations branch of the Federal Army, it was founded when the "Flying Republican" was found and pilots had to be trained in order to fly it. The Corp only expanded from there as an engineer came along with designs for Biplanes and Gyrocopters and promptly built several for the Federal Army, these have been put to use for patrolling the New York Bay with many Gyrocopters and Biplanes being armed with machine-guns and for Biplanes, bombs. These have been put to use fighting the enemies of the Republic, including the bombing of the "Pleasure Palace" HQ of the National Pleasure League along with the various brothels and raider camps spread around the NPL territory. But one group has plagued the Flying Corp for some time now, The Fishermen using massive fishing nets strung between buildings to destroy the planes and copters of the Flying Corp has led to a series of raids targeting the Fishermen. They bombed on more than one occasion their safehouses, destroying two of them. Yet still needing some way to combat the massive fishing nets, many planes and gyrocopters were fitted with cutters to help destroy the nets, these have managed to knock down a few of the Fishermen's snares but many still remain in operation. Colonies *Staten Island **Shaolin **Mirelurk Bay *Battery Park *Union City (defunct) Notable People Governor-General James Phat James Phat, like most of the Libertarian bureaucrats, was born into money. The Phat family is still one of the many powerful aristocrat families that inhabit Ellis Island. James' father was a rich merchant who had made a living running food and medical drugs to the many colonies on the New York mainland that the FRL maintained. Making a vast fortune off this pursuit the Phat family quickly prospered as his father moved into a vacant building on Ellis and turned it into the Phat Family Estate. There James was born, raised and groomed to be the councilmen for Ellis in the President's Council. However, James was a bit more adventurous than that and promptly left home and signed up for the Federal Army. He showed promise in training and was promoted to Sergeant early on and was plucked for promotion to Lieutenant and then onto Captain a role usually for hardened combat veterans. He continued to climb the ropes of command with ease, bucking combat duties on land and dodging the piles of paperwork. When questions were raised as to how he managed such a feat those people quickly found themselves out of a job and their careers basically destroyed. The Federal Army simply turned a blind eye to the rise of James Phat whose most amounts of combat experience was breaking up a bar fight. Yet when he finally was right below the rank of Colonel and was looking to command the entire Federal Army when Colonel Arnett created the Colonial Directorate, a position held by a single man to rule over the colonies on the mainland (mostly to command their militias and keep the peace) and Arnett gave his subordinate the position. James took to this position like a little kid to a lump of coal on Christmas, he had been very close to commanding the army and thus giving himself a window to take control of the republic and now he was given a side job while others replaced him. He became bitter and soon began to rule the colonies tyrannically and issued a series of edicts that basically meant that all laws were subject to change by his direction, any and all could be arrested and executed for speaking against the Governor-General and so on. James also lined up a deal with the Newark Pirate Association that they could move drugs through the colonies and onto the islands if he pocketed 75% of the earnings, faced with near bankruptcy and desertion the NPA agreed. However upon the destruction of the colony of Union City by Bob's Wreckers, James wanting to get himself out of this horrible position organized a counterattack, using the militia he had under his command he went in after the air attacks and butchered the remaining civilians, hanging their corpses along the streets as a warning to not mess with James Phat. This failed in its attempt to scare the enemy and only served to place him on the bounty lists of many gangs in the Bronx. One day while in his office James was told that there was a member of the NPA at Battery Park, he was flown there where he was met by an empty town. The helicopter that flew him there promptly left and a crowd of angry folks appeared from the alleyways, he pulled out his Newberry Service Revolver and shot six of the crowd before being swarmed and lynched by the crowd at the town gallows. The Phat family lost its sole heir and would never again pollute the Federal Army. Economy Prior to the foundation of the republic, the inhabitants of the various islands in New York harbor survived off a combination of fishing, hunting, and farming. Due to the lack of security, the region's production never exceeded subsistence levels. Exchange and organized commerce were next to nonexistent, and what trading that did occur was frought with risks, and usually took the form of bartering. However with the foundation of the republic, and the creation of an organized security force, producers found themselves able to invest more of their time and resources into the production of agricultural commodities. In its early years, the Republic's economy was small and primarily agrarian. Large scale or commercial operations had not yet come into existence. However with the establishment of the Republican Dollar as the Republic's official currency, and it's backing with gold (a still precious commodity in the wasteland) allowed for the burgeoning of commerce and production within the republic. What little land that was available for cultivation was usually of poor quality, and required a great deal of investment on the part of the farmers to even return a modest yield, thus for much of the Republic's early years agricultural commodities were incredibly scarce and costly to acquire. Due to the scarcity of agricultural goods, the Republic quickly developed a thriving fishing industry, driven by increased demand for a cheaper alternative to crops. For the first several years of the republic's existence, its economy was plagued by rampant inflation and chronic shortages. Efforts to alleviate these issues through the implementation of price controls and rationing only exacerbated the issues. With every bit of land under cultivation, the Republic had yet to find a solution to its woes. The Republican government, in an effort to alleviate its citizens (and their pocketbooks) from the strains of inflation looked back to antiquity for a solution. The Republic's governing council elected to resettle a portion of those population, namely the most destitute of its citizens, to a new land in order to begin anew and spread with them "...the light of civilization and commerce..." The first batch of citizens left for Battery Park in 2204 establishing a Republican colony under the jurisdiction of James Samsonite. The colony quickly set about establishing their town,and clearing land for cultivation. Soon the markets of the Republic were flooded with fresh crops grown in the new colonies. With the influx of new goods, consumer prices gradually fell and a brief period of deflation ensued. Overall, however, this did not seriously hinder the economy's growth. Controls and regulations on production and distribution were relaxed and the Republic's fledgling economy continued its growth. During this period the wealth of the Republic steadily increased, leading to a higher degree of investment in new capital implements and an overall extension of the various firm's production processes. This process led to an overall increase in the economy's total output, the wages enjoyed by workers, and a further decrease in prices, raising the welfare of the citizenry as a whole. This process being helped in no small part by the advent of trade with the growing number of Rafter merchants that were engaged in commerce within the harbor. This increase in the Republic's wealth also allowed for it to greatly extend itself across the region, making it one of the strongest powers in the NYC area. However with the increase in its size came an increase in its population, and likewise a diversification of its society. The needs of an e-er expanding economy in need of materials and inputs to keep up with the needs of an increasingly diverse society led to the creation of manufacturing and processing industries. Mostly driven by the need for armaments and tools, the Republic saw the opening of its first foundry in 215, and its first mill in 2218. These new industries essentially solidified the existence of wage labor in the Republic and helped to create a new class of bourgeois manufacturers and industrialists. These men and women arse, and challenged the political influence of the old farming and fishing families (collectively known as the Feeder class) on the Republic governing council and newly formed Federal Assembly. This new class was joined by a fourth ascendant class primarily made up of merchants. Between these four gro,ups the reigns of power shifted. At its inception, the tax burden upon the individual citizen was relatively light, with the government only collecting a mere 2% tax upon their incomes, payable either with money or in the form of goods (in which case the burden was usually heavier due to their perishable nature). The government, lacking any sort of bureaucracy, relied upon a handpicked group of tax farmers in order to collect payments. This occupation quickly became the subject of a great deal of corruption as tax farmers (often backed by armed thugs) often utilized their position to extract extra payments from the citizenry for their own gain. Eventually taxation was brought under the control of the rule of law, and an accountable bureaucracy was implemented for the purpose of tax collection. The increase in Republican society brought on an increase in taxation as the government required more revenues for the sake of maintaining the increased size of the army and, eventually, navy. The current tax burden upon Republican citizens consists of a 5% tax upon their income, along with awith tax upon property values, and an import duty upon commodities. With the settlement of colonies on Staten Island the Republic's economy once again returned to being primarily based around agriculture, however with the help of recovered technology, and the reclamation of pre-war greenhouses the cultivation of exotic cash crops such as tobacco, indigo, beet sugar, and rice. As well the island sports several vineyards. The high capital costs of entering into these industries has essentially limited the production of those commodities to a handful of firms, several of whom have colluded to form price -ixing schemes in order to maximize their profit margins, and at the same time prevent outside competition. As well with the expansion of the realm, the increase in security, and the general increase in wealth has allowed for a greater increase in the division of labor within Libeterian society. This has led to the rise of a multitude of service industries such as shipping, insurance & banking, arbitration, and financial services. As well, Libeteria is one of the few post-war states to sport a functioning stock market, allowing for companies and corporations to raise capital without having to either borrow,or provide it all themselves. The existence of the Libeterian stock market has led to an increased influx of portfolio, and FDI capital into the Republic. Culture The Libeterian culture is rather diverse with it being given the adventurous beliefs and sense of expansion of the Rafters and the sense of patriotism influenced by their past, but religion is where the main divergence is. Children of the Torch The Children of the Torch are a small cult centered out of Liberty Island that worship the Statue of Liberty and believe that all men and women have the divine right to do what they want, whenever they want, so long as they do not harm others in doing so. The group enjoyed a boom when the three islands of Libeteria first joined, but membership quickly tailed off when people realized that religious beliefs did not supersede the law, and that they still had to follow them despite their beliefs. Catholicism Two strains of Catholicism exist within the federal republic- that preached by the Church of St. Monica, spread by priests from the Capital Wasteland and that preached by the East Coast Catholic Church, spread by priests from the Jersey Wasteland. Catholicism is the most common and most powerful religion in the republic, with all six presidents of Libeteria considering themselves Catholic. Judaism Descended from New York's large Jewish population, the Republic has developed a thriving Jewish community that can roughly be broken down into three sects. The first, and most populace being, regular practicing Jews, many of whom have collected into communities, formed Synagogues, and maintain pre-war Jewish traditions. The second group, being smaller by a fairly large margin compared to their mainstream cousins, are the Messianic Jews. Many of the members of this community were at one point members of the Republic's larger population, and yet were converted to the belief in the divinity of Christ by the Catholic missionaries that travel about the islands, but choose to maintain their cultural heritage as a sign of respect to their elders. The final, and by far smallest portion of the Jewish population consists of a small, radical cadre of ultra-orthodox Jews. Permanently at odds with the Republic's government, Catholics, and even their own fellow Jews, the Ultra-Orthodox population has gone to great lengths to isolate itself from Libeterian society. However its, radicalism, an fanatical adherence to the tenets of the Torah have worked to alienate many of the younger members of the community, leading to a slow decline in their overall size, as many younger Orthodox Jews choose to integrate into Libeterian society. Notable Presidents Jay Talbert The founder of the Federal Republic of Libeteria he holds the highest prestige in many circles within the Republic. He was wise enough to form an Army and establish a national currency and yet he was wise enough to align with political parties. All in all, he jumped started the economy of the FRL, set up its governing body and in one way or another helped create the various political parties within the republic today. Landon Thompson This president came after Talbert and filled in the massive shoes well, the first politically aligned president he sided with the Merchants Union a Far-Right group who believe in limited government, strong national defense and absolutely zero tolerance for drugs and slavery. Landon passed the Navigation and Commerce Act basically declaring all of New York Harbor and its various subsidiaries property of FRL and anyone entering the Harbor was subject to searching from the Maritime Patrol Force, created by the Act as a way to enforce the act. He is said to have single-handedly crippled the slavery and drug industry in the New York area. However, he did get his nos a bit dirty with a brief scandal involving his vice president Diana McHale, a rather good-looking woman who he supposedly had "relations" with on several occasions, but seeing her whom the hell wouldn't? Daniel Gibb A member of the Hawk Party, a Center-Right militarist party that emphasizes the expansion of territory, this includes the forcible removal of those who oppose them. This led to several sticky situations in places like the Union City where the townsfolk weren't all that willing to give up their land to the FRL so President Gibb simply took the land driving the locals into the hands of the Lions and the Reclamation. He was only in office for six months before being gunned down by Ultra-Left Wing radicals. Political Parties Right-Wing *Merchants Union- Far-Right Party *Hawk Party- Center-Right Militaristic, expansionist party *New Order- Facist Extremists *Anti-Mutant League *Conservative Christains United Left-Wing *Labor Party *Workers Union- Communist *Red Shield Movement- Ultra-Left Wing radicals *Liberal Christians Alliance *Mutant Acceptance Party *Anti-Mutant Party category: New York Category:Groups